MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

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Sutekh
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MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Sutekh » 05 Dec 2020 17:04




When : Wednesday 9th December, 7.45pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161


It will have been just over 1 year since Birmingham last appeared in Reading for a league game and many are expecting this to be a great opportunity to capitalise on the good work of the last couple of weeks. Trouble is it is Birmingham at home and Reading just don’t seem to ever do Birmingham at home.

The Blues have not been great this season so far with just 4 wins to show for their efforts. However they won their last fixture (at Bristol City) and are a bit of a draw specialist having shared the spoils on 7 occasions so aren’t exactly too easy to vanquish either. That said, before the Bristol game, they had won none of the previous 6 and amassed just 3 points in that time. Most worryingly though Brum have won 2 and drawn 3 of their previous 5 away games (and only have the 1 away defeat (at Norwich) all season) so they know what they’re doing on their travels and given Reading’s tendency to neatly gift wrap 3 points for the Blues in this fixture we should all be very wary of them.

The Blues likely starting XI will be something akin to Etheridge, Colin, Roberts, Dean, Friend, Kieftenbeld, Sunjic, Sánchez, Toral, Bela and Hogan with, it seems, perennial substitute Lucas Jutkiewicz on the bench to provide further annoyance if not manacled properly, plus they have just received clearance to play free agent Alen Halilovic who signed after being released by AC Milan. Reportedly Birmingham have a fairly physical approach to matches at the moment so I expect this game is going to be very irritating and frustrating to watch.

Birmingham’s Adam Clayton and Josh McEachran are expected to miss the game though injury while Reading will continue to go without the services of Andy Yiadom, George Puscas, Felipe Araruna and Jon Swift.

This is the sort of game the team that Reading are trying to be this season must win. As we know from the last few years this miserable fixture has generally brought no reward for the Biscuitmen so getting those 3 points will be something of an achievement.

Referee

Tim Robinson (who also had the pleasure of last year’s shambles)

Previously

19 Sep 20 > Reading 2-0 Barnsley
18 Jul 20 > Blackburn Rovers 4-3 Reading
07 Dec 19 > Reading 2-3 Birmingham City
06 Apr 19 > Hull City 3-1 Reading
01 Jan 19 > Reading 1-4 Swansea City
19 Sep 18 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
16 Jan 18 > Reading 3-0 Stevenage (FA Cup 3)
30 Sep 17 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
29 Apr 17 > Reading 1-0 Wigan Athletic
01 Oct 16 > Reading 1-1 Derby County
02 Feb 16 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
21 Sep 13 > Derby County 1-3 Reading

Historically

Well at least this one doesn’t present much to live up to. Previous home league games with Birmingham have generally worked out to be utter disasters with Reading usually handing performances that at best can only be described as shambolic.

Games with Birmingham only go back 35 years or so and in that time Birmingham have turned up in Reading on 18 occasions and won 7 times while Reading have struggled to a mere 4 victories. Most depressing are the last 6 games played at home to Brum which has seen the home team manage a fantastic return of 2 whole points while serving up some quite clueless and utterly inept performances (e.g. that dreadful 0-2 of January 2018).

So, if I were you, I’d avoid this one as if there was a global pandemic....

How to follow the game

  1. Red button
  2. Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
  3. Ring/text a mate for updates
  4. Use an iFollow subscription
  5. BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)

Mid Sussex Royal
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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Mid Sussex Royal » 05 Dec 2020 17:30

I don't know which was worse, that 0-2 mentioned above or last season....different side now though playing with confidence and will be a good vibe from the crowd again...there certainly wasn't that in the last 2 games. Think we'll win.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by windermereROYAL » 05 Dec 2020 17:34

Just noticed, Birmingham have only lost once on the road this season, draw specialist with 5 and 2 wins.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Old Man Andrews » 05 Dec 2020 17:43

Won't be posting anything in this thread, no referee abuse and no comments during the game. Unfortunately Ian has taken any of the fun or enjoyment out of matchday threads by taking them over with constant shit opinions, not understanding basic laws of the game and generally being an arse. Awful, just awful.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Nameless » 05 Dec 2020 17:54

Old Man Andrews Won't be posting anything in this thread, no referee abuse and no comments during the game. Unfortunately Ian has taken any of the fun or enjoyment out of matchday threads by taking them over with constant shit opinions, not understanding basic laws of the game and generally being an arse. Awful, just awful.


You could have just not posted, rather than posting to announce you won’t be posting. No one will mind you not joining in.
Ian does seem to have regressed a bit recently, which is a shame.


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Jinx » 05 Dec 2020 18:21

Best news all year - good work Ian

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by NewCorkSeth » 05 Dec 2020 18:29

I'm posting to say I will be posting in this match thread.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Hound » 05 Dec 2020 18:42

NewCorkSeth I'm posting to say I will be posting in this match thread.


Prob just about the boner you have for Laurent though

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by NewCorkSeth » 05 Dec 2020 18:43

Hound
NewCorkSeth I'm posting to say I will be posting in this match thread.


Prob just about the boner you have for Laurent though

Are you a psychic????


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Snowflake Royal » 05 Dec 2020 18:56

You're all welcome.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Singing Defective » 05 Dec 2020 19:23

Snowflake Royal You're all welcome.


I won’t be posting about being privileged for not seeing Harry Arter.

Old Man Andrews

Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Old Man Andrews » 05 Dec 2020 20:22

Snowflake Royal You're all welcome.

Useless human

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NewCorkSeth
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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by NewCorkSeth » 05 Dec 2020 20:26

Old Man Andrews
Snowflake Royal You're all welcome.

Useless human

That didn't last long.


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by NewCorkSeth » 07 Dec 2020 15:24

Lads I'm actually pumped for this.

I'm so happy right now because of this team. I find myself wanting to talk about it endlessly. Its getting harder and harder for me to say who our best player is or who the best transfer we have made is.

Rewatching the highlights and looking at Morrisons smile after he scored put a massive smile on my face. The team being so together is incredible.

Its been touched on in other threads but Pauno did a great job in keeping spirits up during the run of poor form. We could have completely dipped out there.

Its just nice to have a team where you look at the first 11 and cant really fault anyone too much. Feels like there is 5 players you could point to as "best in the league at what they do" and another 5 you could say are under-rated.

The Second Tier podcast said we even seem to have good depth which has been one of the big worries on here. They question what would happen if one of Laurinomhota got injured, which is a fair point.

Another point of interest, Blades Analytics put his hands up about Laurent as a player he got totally wrong in his scouting saying
"Admit ones you got wrong as well as right.
Defensive midfield double pivot destroyer at a top 6 Championship club is not how i had him pegged!"

Its just fascinating to me that the one weak spot, if you could even call it that, in our team right now is RB and we have 2 young, and very different, RBs playing rather well there. That competition should be fun to watch.

I agree with whoever in the match thread said they would like to see Holmes at CB soon. He's looking good. Intelligent and physical. This stint at RB is gonna help him a lot with how modern CBs are utilised too.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Hound » 07 Dec 2020 15:54

yep, Holmes will be a good CB. He reminds me a bit of Cooper in an attacking sense - really attacks those set pieces well. But he is good with the ball and pretty quick as well. Definitely one to watch and a nice surprise as I think many had written him off/forgotten about him inc myself

Yep looking forward to this. Got my tickets so will be at the ground. Birmingham won't be easy though - they're pretty solid and Hogan is good for a goal. We should have too much for them though, but obvs football isn't that simple

I think Semedo would be an adequate replacement for Rino in case of injury. Laurent is a slightly different player and I don't think Semedo has his positional sense or calmness on the ball. But short term Semedo would be ok. Or Swift when he comes back. Obvs wouldnt want to see the partnership broken up though

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by South Coast Royal » 07 Dec 2020 15:56

Am trying not to get too carried away-that Bournemouth defeat (which means more to me and my family) has now been partially erased from the memory bank .

We have to remind ourselves that the last two games against very defensive-minded sides from very near the bottom part of the table were achieved against sides reduced to only 10 men for the greater part of both games.

If we do the business against yet another defensive side in Birmingham and then get at least a point away at QPR then I will really start to believe ahead of the two games against Norwich and Brentford where I feel a bit more confident, despite their league positions, as both will probably be much more open and attacking which arguably suits our counter-attacking style.

Whatever, these are interesting and exciting times.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by CountryRoyal » 07 Dec 2020 17:40

^^ you’re right that it was against 10 men, but I think on both occasions you can mitigate that advantage somewhat by how defensively resilient Pulis and Houghton teams are.

Will be an interesting game but I’m tempering my excitement, last time I thought “yeah you know what this team is going places” was after Blackburn and then cov happened. Slightly different because I think we’ve been building slowly with some great performances but I’m trying not to get ahead of my self for this one.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Snowflake Royal » 07 Dec 2020 17:47

I think Holmes may well be a better prospect at CB than McIntyre and I'd be quite happy seeing them playing together for us for many years.

Holmes seems like the perfect replacement for Morro, who can't have many more seasons at this level in him, so maybe we'll see a transition between the two across next season if we stay down.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by Zip » 07 Dec 2020 19:55

Birmingham are yet another team that don’t score many but don’t concede many either. Just 12 scored and only 14 conceded in 16 games.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h) sponsored by an utter shambles

by bcubed » 08 Dec 2020 00:07

I can’t decide whether I’m going to post in this thread or not

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